Friday, August 16, 2013

Daniels' Education Scandal Continues

"[Former Indiana superintendent of public instruction Tony] Bennett changed the grades of privately run charter schools on behalf of his financial backers. Indeed, as the Associated Press reported, 'When it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett’s education team frantically overhauled his signature ‘A-F’ school grading system to improve the school’s marks.'"

School reform is based "not around policies that would most help children, but around legislation that would most quickly expand the profit margins of its donors in the for-profit education industry" (and, more broadly, the pet project of the prominent GOP contributor in Indy whose charter school "might receive a poor grade").

As David Sirota concludes on Salon.com, "If you are backed by enough money, you will almost always retain your status in America — no matter how wrong you are and how many lives you ruin."